Dr Watson

The following days Raphael spent in his room, barely leaving his bed once again. But today was different, today Raphael received a letter from the courts. Contained within the letter was various details about his fathers life over the last 10 years, also how it came to an end only the other night. No matter how much Raphael hated his father for his childhood he couldn't bring himself to understand how someone could do something so monstrous to another human being.

The letter enclosed gruesome details about his father death which seemed to him as a fault statement considering the description read out like a murder report. There was also the announcement at the back of the letter notifying Raphael of the funeral if he felt up to attending.

He placed the letter upon his bed before climbing out of the covers and making his way over to his closet to find clothes suitable enough for a funeral. He was thankful for what black clothing he owned in his closet, especially the ones that were fit for a funeral.

Raphael found the correct graveyard quick enough knowing that the upper-class men and women had their own graveyard separate from those who could barely afford to live on what money they earned from work. There was only a few present at the funeral other than Raphael and the minister, one of the by-standers turned out to be an accountant that wished to speak to Raphael about his fathers savings. To say he was confused was an understatement, his father had savings? That was news to him.

He stood idle staring at the still open grave as the accountant began reading his fathers last will and testament. He didn't register half of the document, it was only when a figure of money his father had left him did he come out of his daze and stared blankly at the accountant, his mouth dropping open.

“Is this for real sir? Did he really leave me all that money?” The accountant smiled and nodded turning the pages for the younger male to see.

“He did indeed laddie.” He skimmed over the page, his eye lingering on the paragraph stating the the money that had been left to him in disbelief. He just couldn't understand where his father got that kind of money from. “His home and belongings will be sold at auction later this week if you are interested, if not then the proceeds will be split between what he owed to bankers. I have the money right here if you want to take it with you.”

The old accountant pulled a fist sized black bag of coins, holding it in mid-air for the young to take if he wished. Raphael hesitated at first before taking the bag, with the money he could afford to buy his own home if he wished and still have money to survive on if he had to wait a little while before starting a new job.

Pocketing the bag, Raphael bid farewell to the accountant, once again thanking him before turning to walk away. When he was about three streets away from the graveyard Raphael was roughly pushed against a wall, a had covering his mouth so he wouldn't be heard if he was to scream.

“Don't fret Raphael, I won't hurt you.” Raphael knew immediately who his assailant was, the hand covering his mouth was removed and he was quickly turned around to face the taller male who he'd spent the last few days hiding from. “I need your help little bird.”

The older male looked tired, as if he hadn't slept in the past few days, there also looked to be some kind of stain on his coat. Something about his panicked state set off alarms in Raphael's mind, he knew Dimtri could be impulsive when he wanted to. “Why would you need my help? Dimtri what have you done?”

“Something very bad little bird, I promise I was only trying to protect you... Things got out hand and before I could stop myself I made a big mistake.” Dimtri appeared to be serious, but whether he was, Raphael didn't know. His knowledge on Dimtri was proving to be very limited.

“Dimtri, please. Y-you're scaring me. What d-d-did you d-do?” Dimtri looked down, his hands still clinging onto the younger male.

“This way, I think he went this way!” Someone shouted from the corner of the street, Dimtri's eyes went wide as he looked to where the voices had come from seeing two police officers run around the corner and begin running down the street towards them.

Dimtri pinned Raphael up against the wall, connecting his lips with the youngers in a quick and needy kiss before breaking away from the smaller man and making a run for it down the street. One of the two police men stopped by Raphael's side to catch his breath while the other police officer continued to chase Dimtri.

“He didn't hurt you did he?” Raphael pulled himself out of his thoughts long enough to glance at the police officer that happened to be talking to him.

“N-n-no. Why? W-what did he d-do?”

“He murdered old Mr Nevermore, who lived around the corner.” Raphael 's eyes widened, Dimtri was the one who killed his father? That couldn't be true surely.

“Excuse me officer, but are you sure it was that man?” The officer finally stood up straight having caught his breath.

“He was seen exiting the house by some of the towns folk. Witness's say he had blood on him.” Raphael didn't think it was possible for his eyes to get any bigger, the stain on Dimtri's coat, the older male claiming he was in trouble and needed help, rambling on about trying to protect him and going to far. Something clicked in Raphael's mind, suddenly everything became clear.

“I-I. I have to go.” Raphael stuttered, a million thoughts racing through his mind. The officer sent the younger male a concerned look as he looked into the youngers eyes.

“Are you sure you are okay son?” Raphael only nodded barely trusting his voice right now. Dimtri only showed up when he started conversing with Lucifer, things only started getting bad when he started to share his past with both men, they always seemed to know things he'd only told the other. None of this made any sense when at the same time it made complete sense.

He hurried back to the manor, he needed to see and speak to either Lucifer or Dimtri, he needed to know what was going on. Thoughts were still running through his mind when he reached the manor, nothing appeared to have changed, Philip, Matthew and Patricia were all stood in the kitchens preparing food or the table. They talked as they worked barely noticing Raphael's presence as he entered the room.

“Poor lad's lost everything, his mother when he was only a child, his father only last night and now that the master is on his death bed.” Patricia spoke looking down at the bowl of paste she was currently stirring.

“He still has you.” Matthew added without lifting his eyes from the vegetables he was slicing. From the looks of things pie was on the menu, chicken possibly, maybe even steak, Raphael had trouble seeing what meat Philip was handling.

“I wouldn't worry yourselves over Raphael, hopefully his father left him enough to finally get out of here and away from the master and his nightmare of an apprentice. The boy deserves better.” Philip shook his head as he shifted over to the half filled sink to wash his hands.

Movement outside caught Raphael's eyes, something moved out there, the proof was the door to Lucifer's lab. It slowly closed behind whoever had just entered the lab. Stepping back out of the kitchens, Raphael decided to take the corridor to the back door next to Lucifer's study. The door to the lab was still in the process of closing when Raphael reached the courtyard.

He broke into a sprint so he could reach the door before it closed, this would help him sneak in without alerting whoever was in there. Whoever was in the lab were making just as much noise as what he had the day he first met Lucifer. To Raphael it sounded like glass smashing, metal hitting metal, it also sounded like someone talking.

The young silver haired male jumped when the door behind him closed with a loud thud, looking over his shoulder he sighed in relief as he slowly made his way over to the door he assumed was the door to the storage cupboard or room.

The door was open enough for Raphael to look in without being seen, broke shards of glass littered the floor, it glittered like snow on a sunny day distracting Raphael from the man standing facing the mirror that hung above the water basin. Chemicals mixed together among the broken glass giving off a strange kind of blue green glow.

All kinds of science equipment that occupied the counters were either knocked over, broken or laying upon the floor. The only area that looked to be still intact was where Lucifer happened to be standing leaning on the counter staring into the mirror, the face staring back at Lucifer didn't belong to him but Dimtri.

“How could you be so careless Dimtri? Leading the police here and endangering Raphael?” Lucifer spoke aloud.

“Careless? I fail to see how it was careless to remove the source of the boys pain. Saying I'm careless for carrying out such an act does that make you careless for creating such a monster like me?” Dimtri's voice filled the room, Raphael had trouble figuring out if it was indeed coming from the mirror or from Lucifer. How was this even possible? It seemed logical if you were to compare it to fiction but then how would it work exactly when all they were was fiction. None of this should be real.

“Of course I was careless to assume I could make some sort of potion that could help me regain my youth, I was careless to think there wouldn't be any kind of consequences when I thought I could have the boy. I was careless allowing you to run wild for as long as you have.” The older man spat back at the smirking reflection.

“Jealousy looks good on you Lucifer. Allowing me to run wild as you so call it was your idea remember? You told yourself I could get close to the boy so you could learn more about him remember. You only wanted to use me for your own intentions.” A single tear escaped Raphael amethyst eyes, running as fast as it could to his cheek, jumping from his chin to the floor made enough noise to gain the attention of both men in the room he was eavesdropping from.

His eyes met those familiar warm blue eyes of Lucifer's first before moving to Dimtri's equally blue eyes. Finally seeing both men side by side, Raphael couldn't understand how he'd missed it. They looked exactly the same, the only real difference was that Lucifer was older than Dimtri in appearance.

“I think your plan failed Lucifer, my little bird looks like you have just destroyed everything he ever knew.” Dimtri was silenced by Lucifer's sudden movements, the older male with what strength he could muster up spun on his heel and drove his right hand into the centre of the mirror as if he was hitting Dimtri for real. The image in the broke mirror was that of Lucifer's reflection when he pulled his bleeding fist from the shattered mirror.

“How much did you hear?” Lucifer kept his eyes on the ground, afraid of what Raphael might say or think.

“If it would make things better I would avoid the truth if I could, but I feel as if this can not be avoided.” Raphael only pushed the door open enough for Lucifer to see him now the other male knew he was there. As scared as he was he also felt brave, he knew Lucifer wouldn't hurt him and he felt like he knew Dimtri enough to guess that he too wouldn't hurt him.

“I don't have much time but I need your help.” The older man finally looked at the younger seeing something close to worry show on his face. “I think I may have made something that can help suppress Dimtri, maybe even rid myself of him.”

Lucifer reached for something on the counter behind him before making his way over to Raphael, holding out his hand. In the palm of the older males hand was a medical syringe with some kind of liquid inside it. “What do you need me to do?”

“Inject this into me, Dimtri could potentially stop me from doing it to myself.” Raphael only nodded as he took the syringe.

“Are you, are you sure about this? Is it going to work?” Raphael questioned.

“There's only one way to find out if it does work and that's to test it. I've used something similar to suppress him for a few hours. I hope this will do the trick and completely suppress him.” The silver haired male looked down at the syringe, moving it in his hand so he was ready to inject whatever the liquid was into Lucifer's body.

The taller male took the shorter males arm and led him back out of the room and over to the work bench. He managed to hop up on the bench and started rolling up his sleeve. Raphael stepped forward ready to get this over and done with. He took one last look at the other male questioning the older man if he's sure about he wanted to do this.

“Please, just do it.” The younger of the two nodded and pressed the tip of the syringe into Lucifer's arm, the needle sliding into his flesh like a knife in butter. It was over and done with quicker than it had begun. He placed the syringe down on the bench next to Lucifer before lifting his eyes up to the other males. “Thank you.”

Raphael stepped back allowing Lucifer to slide down from the bench. A sharp pain ran through Lucifer's chest causing him to collapse against the work bench his hand grasping his chest as he gasped for air. “Lucifer!”

Raphael dropped to his knees next to the older male, taking the others free hand in his own as he looked into those sea blue eyes that he knew all to well. “What's happening? Is this supposed to happen?”

“N-n-no. Dimtri must have put something else in it. I-I-I can hear him inside my mind.” Lucifer entwined his fingers with Raphael's as he stared into those amethyst eyes he loved so much. “I'm s-sorry for everything.”

Raphael shook his head tears falling down his cheeks, squeezing Lucifer's hand every couple of minutes. “You can't leave me, Lucifer, you just can't.”

Lucifer tugged on Raphael's arm pulling him close so he could slip his other arm around the smaller male. Raphael wrapped his arms around Lucifer's thin waist, reaching his head on Lucifer's chest, his eyes closed as he focused on the others heart beat.

Sometime later Raphael lifted his head up to see he was still in the lab, something wrapped around his waist kept him from moving. He remembered how and why he was here, he just didn't remember falling asleep. Looking up at the man who's arms were still wrapped around his waist, he gasped when he Dimtri's face and not Lucifer's. Squirming out of the others grasp he reached up to touch his hand to the others cheek, flinching at how cold it happened to be.

More tears slowly slid there way down his cheeks as he reached further up to close the man's eyes. Satisfied with the gesture he pulled out of his grasp and climbed to his feet. Wiping his cheeks and taking a quick breath, he turned to the door he had originally come in through and leaving.

Back inside the manor Philip, Patricia and Matthew stood around the dining table waiting patiently as the two police officers questioned them about Dimtri Harker. Raphael entered the room staring blankly at the officers as he both looked to him.

“And this is?” One of the two questioned Philip.

“Raphael Nevermore sir, he works alongside us.” Philip answered quickly, he looked over to Raphael before changing the subject. “I take it the master is still working?”

Raphael never got a chance to answer as another police officer burst in the door behind him. “He's in there sir!” Both officers ignored the manors current residence as they broke into a run, chasing after the other officer who led them into the lab.

“What in heavens name is going on?” Philip asked to no one in particular.

“Dimtri's dead.” Was all Raphael said in reply, he looked away from his friends, his family. All he'd ever known was in this house and he couldn't even stand to be in it anymore. For once in his life he didn't feel afraid, he felt fearless. He took one step closer to the front door which turned into two steps, then into three, he kept going till he reached the door. This was it. His new life was on the other side of that door.

He pulled the door open not caring for what the others had to say as he stepped out, leaving the door open as he began to walk down the all to familiar dirt road.